Tussle mitten



Nov. 6, 1951 F. A. BRODERICK 2,574,086

TUSSLE MITTEN Filed Jan. 25, 1951 2 SHEETS'SHEET 1 INVENTORFrankA-Er'mdErick,

ATTORNEY Nov. 6, 1951 F. A. BRODERICK 2,574,086

TUSSLE MITTEN Filed Jan. 23 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR' A FfnkAEruder'ick ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,574,086 TUSSLE MITTEN Frank A. Broderick, Houston, Tex. ApplicationJanuary23, 1951, Serial No. 207,396

2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to a tussle mitten and has for an object toprovide an improved type of glove or mitten especially adapted for usein the sport of tussling wherein a special type of boxing glove isneeded which will remain firmly in position on the clenchedfist so longas the fist is kept in clenched position. It may be instantly removedwhen desired by unclenching the fi'st and opening the hand permittingthe glove or mitten to drop off the hand'if it is held in downwardposition, thus instantly freeing the hands for other uses. The tusslemitten of this invention is especially adapted for use in the sport oftussling, a sport wherein two opponents attempt to knock each other downand then, when knocked down, todrag them out of the ring in which theyare tussling. It is desirable that the gloves remain in place until oneopponent has'succeeded in knocking down the other opponent, then thesuccessful, opponent by dropping his hands to the side and unclenchinghis fists may easily and instantly free his hands of the gloves ormittens which will immediately drop on, leaving him free to use hishands to drag his opponent out of the ring and thus win over the fallenopponent.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved tusslemitten which will protect ones hands throughout the fighting portion ofthe tussle and will free his hands immediately b when desired for use inthe drag-out portion of the sport. This sport thus differs from ordinaryboxing in that there is no attempt to knock out or render ones opponentunconscious, but rather to merely knock him down and then, when he isknocked down, to be able to instantly remove the mitten and use oneshands to drag the knocked down opponent out of the ring.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tussle mitten whichwill afiord substantially the same protection to ones fists as isaiforded by an ordinary boxing glove yet permit one to-instantly freeoneshands of the mittens whenever desired. It is obvious, therefore,that while ordinary boxing gloves could not be used in' this new sportof tussling due to the inability to free ones hands when desired, thatthe tussle mitten of this invention could obviously be used for ordinaryboxing and probably would be even more useful for ordinary boxing thanthe conventional boxing glove, because of the fact that it can be donnedand removed instantly whenever desired, thus enabling alboxer usingthese gloves or-mittens to remove the same duringthe restminute betweenthe "rounds of the fight'and then replace them at the end of that minutewithout any substantial loss of time, thus enablin'gthe boxer to relaxhis hands in between rounds, a feature which is not possible withordinary boxing gloves tightly laced on ones hands.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tussle mitten whichprovides adequate padding to ones wrist for use in striking or punchingan opponent, yet is free of any entangling straps about ones wrist orbeyond the numb, the entire securing means being located between thethumb and fingers over the palm of I the hand in addition to a thumbreceiving socket located near the tip of the glove and brought intocooperative position with the thumb by the process of clenching onesfist, the mitten also'being providedwith a finger receiving pocket towhich the thumb socket is secured, thus providing a fixed and definiterelationship between the clenched fingers and preventing undesirablefreedom of movement of the thumb which might interfere with readyremoval of the mitten when desired.

Withthe foregoing and other objects in view, this invention comprisesthe combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter setforth, claimed and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is" a front plan view of the right hand tussle mitten of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view along the thumb side of Fig. l;

t Fig. 3 is a plan view along the opposite side from'Fig. 2

Fig; an a partly cut away view of Fig. 2 showin g'the' thumbsocket andthe finger pocket;

Fig. 5 is a' front plan View of the mitten in position on ones handbefore the fist is clenched; and

Fig. 61s a similar view of the clenched fist with in the mitten. I

As shown at H! the tussle mitten or glove of this invention includes ahorsehair pad ll enclo'sed'with'in a glove leather back 5 and a frontpiece 5a sewed together along the seam line i2. Thewrist' end of themitten 10 has a wrist pro tectirig' cufi '5 provided by extendedportions of the back 5 and'front piece Eaj A wrist strap 6 extendsacross and is securedto'the back of the cuff -Tar'iol extends acrossstruts or flaps B secured in the seam line [2 at cufi I and is providedwith a buckle s'on one end'of the strap 6 arranged to receive the otherend l3 of the strap thereto. Thisbuckleiiissecured to the end of thestrap 3 *6 by having the strap end pass around a mid bar and then theloop is formed by having the end I3 of strap 6 pass under one of the endbars of the buckle 8 over the mid bar mounted on the other end of strap6 and then under the other end bar. It is pulled somewhat tight whilethe hand is in unclenched position and then holds firmly due to theeffect of clenching the fist, thereby extending the underneath pressureon the two buckled straps making them hold firmly. The struts or flaps 9are preferably made each of two thin pieces of leather sewed together soas to provide greater flexibility and better protection where the strap6 passes over the edges of the palm of the hand. A loop strap 4 likewisehas its ends secured in the stitching l2 between the front piece a andthe back piece 5 of the glove or mitten, the loop strap 4 being of asize and location so as to cover or pass over the central portion of thepalm of the hand, the 1ooped strap 13 passing substantially over theheel of the palm of the hand and under the thumb joint.

Extending into the padding II of the mitten through the front piece 5ais a cloth lined finger pocket 2 arranged to receive the four fingers ofthe hand. Two welts 3 are secured across the end of the pocket 2 andhave their ends secured in the sewing or stitching I2 thus providing agrip for the fingers within the pocket 2 when the hand is clenched intoa fist. Extending into the padding ll adjacent to and secured to one endor the other of the finger pocket 2 is the thumb socket I, it beingnoted that the opening to the socket I extends through the edge of thetip of the back piece 5 and that it extends at an obtuse angle to thedirection of the finger pocket 2 when in open position, so that when thefist is clenched the closing of the fingers into a fist folds over theglove to the position shown in Fig. 6 whereby the thumb enters into andis protected in a thumb socket l and cooperates with the fingers inholding the thumb in protected position. It will be noted that the clothlined thumb socket I is sewed to one end of the cloth lined fingerpocket 2 thus restricting the movement of the socket I relative to thefinger 2 and insuring that the socket will remain in proper position,for instance, an easy disentanglement from the thumb by the act ofunclenching ones fist.

To don the glove or mitten In of this invention, one merely inserts thefingers and palm beneath the strap 6 under the loop 4 and into thepocket 2 and then clenches the fist inserting the thumb into thumbsocket I as one does so. This brings the mitten to the position shown inFig. 6 with the fist entirely protected within the leather backed mittenl0 and the cuff 1 extending over the back of the wrist. In thisposition, with a glove on each hand, the left hand glove being madesymmetrical to, but opposite from the glove shown so far as the thumbsocket is concerned, the mitten or glove can be used in ordinary boxingas well in the special new sport of tussling for which it isparticularly designed. In boxing, at

the end of a, round, it can be instantly removed by unclenching onesfist to permit the boxer to relax his hands and fingers during theperiod between rounds and then, as the gong is sounded for the nextround, he may quickly insert his hand in the glove, clench the fistbringing the thumb into protected position, and be ready for the nextround.

In the sport of tussling, the match between the opponents continuesuntil one opponent knocks down the other opponent without trying for aknockout, and then as soon as the other opponent is knocked down, thefirst opponent drops his hands to his side, unclenches his fists as hedoes so, and thereby instantly drops both gloves from his hands, leavinghis hands free to drag his opponent out of the ring, and thus win thematch. When used in tussling, it is preferable to make one pair ofgloves or mittens in one color, as red, and the other pair, blue, whilethe wrist bands 6 of all the gloves will be made of a yellow leather.The buckle 8 will be made of suitable material, either plastic or metal,and if metal, will be covered with plastic or leather.

While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail,it is obvious that this invention is not to be considered as beinglimited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes in detail andconstruction may be made therein within the scope of what is claimed,without departing from the spirit of this inention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. A tussle mitten of the character described comprising a glove leatherback having its edges at the forward end and sides folded over, a frontpiece stitched to the folded over forward and side edges of said backpiece, said back piece also being secured along the rear edge to saidfront piece and providing a Wrist cuff, a wrist strap secured over theback of said wrist cuff and having extending ends arranged to beadjustably secured together over the heel of ones hand, heel protectingflaps secured to said stitching beneath said wrist strap, a palmsecuring loop stitched in said same stitching, a cloth-lined fingerpocket extending into the forward end of said mitten, a

thumb socket extending at an obtuse angle to said finger pocket throughthe tip end of said mitten, said mitten having padding arranged thereinbetween said front piece and said glove leather backing.

2. A tussle mitten of the character described comprising a glove leatherback having its edges at the forward end and sides folded over, a frontpiece stitched to the folded over forward and side edges of said backpiece, said back piece also being secured along the rear edge to saidfront piece and providing a wrist cuff, a wrist strap secured over theback of said wrist cuff and having extending ends arranged to beadjustably secured together over the heel of ones hand, heel protectingflaps secured to said stitching beneath said wrist strap, a palmsecuring loop stitched in said same stitching, a cloth-lined fingerpocket extending into the forward end of said mitten, a thumb socketextending at an obtuse angle to said finger pocket through the tip endof said mitten, said mitten having padding arranged therein between saidfront piece and said glove leather backing, welt means secured acrossthe open end of said finger pocket to provide a, finger gripping meansfor the clenched fist.

FRANK A. BRODERICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 961,149 Maynard June 14, 19102,416,444 Hilton Feb. 25, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date26,451 Great Britain 1897

